Mentor rolls power integrity analysis for PCBs

SAN FRANCISCOMentor Graphics Corp. Tuesday (Feb. 3) threw its hat in the ring of EDA vendors addressing power integrity in the printed circuit (pc) board space, rolling out HyperLynx PI.

HyperLynx PI (power integrity) is billed as easy-to-use and promises accurate analysis of power plane structures. The tool enables teams to design working power delivery systems while reducing design cycle times, prototypes and manufacturing re-spins, as well as product cost, according to Mentor (Wilsonville, Ore.).

David Wiens, a Mentor product marketing manager, acknowledged that some competitors have already offered power integrity tools for pc boards, but said Mentor's offering is more sophisticated and refined. He said the tool would benefit from tight integration with Mentor's established HyperLynx SI signal integrity tool, which Mentor claims owns 45 percent marketshare. The power integrity problem for pc boards is already served by vendors such as Ansoft, a subsidiary of Ansys LLC.

"It's one of those things where being first to market is not always best, especially in the space where there is a lot of education involved ," Wiens said. "We think we really have a differentiated solution that is going to take off like the SI tools did as well."

In fact, the power integrity space is close to what signal integrity was 10 to 15 years ago, when most engineers "just hoped it would work," rather than employ a specific methodology or tools, Wiens said. But this approach has disadvantages, he added, including the need for multiple re-spins on some designs, costing time and money. On the flip side, some products are over designed due to lack of information, costing resources as well, he said.

The intent of HyperLynx PI is to help design engineers who are being forced to make tough design trade-offs on power, Wiens said. Economics are forcing designers to eliminate unnecessary components, use cheaper components, reduce layer count and cut down on prototypes, he noted.

"Engineers want to innovate, but management is saying 'keep it under cost and deliver it on time,' " Wiens said. "You get these cost and design pressures and they work against an innovative engineer."